Team News:
Starting XI: Jones, Johnson, Skrtel, Wisdom, Enrique, Gerrard, Allen, Henderson, Ibe, Sterling, Borini.
Bench: Mignolet, Kelly, Coates, Agger, Flanagan, Spearing, Lucas, Downing, Alberto, Aspas, Suarez, Robinson, Assaidi.
After successfully beating a hand-selected XI on our first trip to Indonesia, the Reds have touched down ahead of our first ever match in Australia as we continue our pre-season tour. Brendan’s boys will be facing A-League side, Melbourne Victory, on Wednesday morning and will be looking to build upon victories against Preston and the Indonesia XI before we fly back to Asia to complete the tour against the Thailand national side.
LFC fans ahead of the Melbourne game
While the victory in Indonesia wasn’t as convincing as the one at Deepdale, it was another victory and clean sheet for the Reds. The 2-0 wins saw Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling hit the back of the net for the second friendly running. Hopefully it will continue Down Under.
Former Red, and Champions League winner, Harry Kewell is also a former player for the Melbourne side. But apart from that, I can’t find any links between the two clubs other than arguably their respective nation’s most passionate fans.
Speaking of passionate fans, the Australian Reds will have a difficult time surpassing the support we received out in the Far East on Saturday. The Indonesian fans really were exceptional so the Aussies will have their work cut out. Given their recent sporting failures though, the Lions tour and the current Ashes series, they may make the most of having something to cheer about for once.
Another success on the pitch would keep the momentum going as we grow ever closer to the new season but of course the speculation surrounding our players continues to grow as well. The boss keeps telling us that Luis Suarez is happy here and part of his plans but of course until we know for certain, the cloud of doubt will continue to hover over the Uruguayan’s head. Also on their way out is goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who looks set to join former Reds’ boss Rafa Benitez at Italian side Napoli much to the disappointment of many Liverpool fans – myself included.
Like all pre-season games, this will be more about fitness than results but as I said earlier if we can win to keep the momentum going then it surely can only help Brendan and the boys.